The present invention relates generally to the analysis of thermal images captured using a thermal imaging camera.
Thermal imaging cameras are used in a wide variety of applications, such as predictive maintenance in industrial facilities. Such cameras, often simply referred to as “thermal imagers,” include some type of infrared engine that converts infrared energy into electrical signals. For example, many thermal imagers include a detector array located in the focal plane of the camera optics. Infrared energy impinging the focal plane array (FPA) is read out for further processing on a pixel-by-pixel basis.
The “raw” data produced by the infrared engine is then converted through digital signal processing techniques to the visible image that can be displayed. In this regard, objects in the image are often depicted in colors corresponding to their relative temperature. The processed images thus produced may be stored in the camera's local memory before subsequent download to a personal computer, such as using a serial data link.
Software running on the personal computer can then be used to organize the images. For example, different groups of equipment can be inspected and data specific to different plant areas or departments can be individually named, saved, stored and retrieved. The images can be stored as collections of images in a particular subfolder or can be organized as sequential images in a particular inspection route.